Help me with my temporary duckie

[pointsalamander]

So I'm a chicken mom.
I have no ducks.

However yesterday someone in my very urban neighborhood posted that someone's duck was loose.
Being that I know there are dogs foxes coyotes and cars/people about I couldn't just leave it wander.

So Esmeralda came to my house. I'm not equipped for a duck but sometime kindly have me some waterfowl food. I put veggies and grit and a big 6 gallon tub of water in a baby play yard in my garage. And my panel heater because she doesn't have a cuddle buddy here in the Midwest.

I'm told that it' s a female muscovy duck. She's mostly just standing in the middle of the play yard making a trill noise. Wagging her tail and that's about it. She's eaten a little misfit some corn and a little waterfowl food. She's very skittish and was likely purchased from a local market as a meat bird for dinner. I don't have a fenced yard or anything to let her wander. But I have a 4x4 pen that I can put up next to my chicken run.

Would she be happier hanging out next to my chickens? A friend of mine has other duckies including 2 muscovies but she won't be my direction till Saturday and in the meantime I would love for Esmerelda to find her stay more comfortable.

 

[KaleIAm]

Thank you for saving her, and being so kind to consider her comfort!

I don't keep muscovy ducks, but @SolarDuck does! He might be able to advise you better than me, with my mallard derived ducks.

You might want to consider that if you place Esmerelda next to your chickens you could be introducing diseases to your flock. Just a thought.

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

It sounds like a lovely temporary set up! That indeed does look to be a muscovy hen, I second what Kale said about possible disease. I can't imagine that current set up would be too bad for any waterfowl for a temporary 4 day visit : D

The only thing I would add, is maybe something covering the top, like a netting of sorts? She should be fully capable of flying (and while she may not do it now, she could do it while your out of the room or when she gets a little more used to her surroundings)

 

[SolarDuck]

@SolarDuck

Thanks for the tag! I'd agree with what the others say letting her see the chickens might make her a little more comfortable but could risk your flocks health. Like @Northwest_Wannabe said she should be fully capable of flight as Muscovy hens are excellent flyers so adding some covering wouldn't be a bad idea. Also to make her a little less lonely you could add a stuffed animal of a duck, or a mirror to keep her company.. So awesome you brought her in!!!

 

[Dux]

Her bowl of treats would make my ducks jealous. Looks like you've got a really nice temporary set-up for her. So glad you were able to take her in!

 

[pointsalamander]

Thank everyone. I'll see if I can find a mirror or stuffie for her.
And she definitely demonstrated that she can get good lift as something fell in my garage and she managed to fly out..... So I have some larger pieces of wood to make sure she has a good visual barrier to discourage a repeat performance.

I'll probably not keep moving her. She was looking more comfortable this afternoon. Lots of tail wiggles and she was happily eating a small snack and drinking.

 

[LT71689]

Is there a way to tell wild muscovies from domestic ones? Just wondering if she's actually someones pet/dinner or if the OP accidentally picked up a wild duck

 

[SolarDuck]

Is there a way to tell wild muscovies from domestic ones? Just wondering if she's actually someones pet/dinner or if the OP accidentally picked up a wild duck

It's domestic. Wild Muscovy are very skiddish and don't have reason to be near people, they live in forests in Mexico and Central America and are almost 100% black.

 

[pointsalamander]

She seems happier this morning and was happily picking out pieces of food she seemed to like the best.

I need to go to goodwill and get her a mirror. I don't have any duck stuffies. She's staying in the pen with the boards on it. Hasn't tried her pool and isn't really walking around much but my mil points out that it's probably more space than she's used to if She was raised as a meat bird for the particular market here.

My kids insisted that She needed a lullaby to go to bed last night...... So she got one.

 

[pointsalamander]

My friend picked up esmerelda. She now has lots of happy ducky friends.

Thank you for helping me keep her comfortable at her hotel stay here